1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the support of products and services; and more particularly to product and service support that includes agent backed services.
2. Related Art
In the sale of products and services, customer service is paramount. Without satisfactory customer sales support, many sales do not occur. Further, without satisfactory customer service support, repeat sales generally do not occur. Thus, companies expend great resources in supporting their products and services, both presale and post sale. Traditionally, a company sets up a sales department that assists potential customers presale and a customer service department that supports customers post sale. The sales department personnel typically visit customers, allow customers to visit and provide telephone support in making sales. Likewise, customer service personnel allow existing customers to visit and provide telephone support. However, it is unusual for customer service departments to visit customer sites unless the sales volume or sales level is substantial.
When a potential or existing customer seeks product or service support, he or she is typically seeking information regarding the use of a product or the manner in which to obtain a service. Based upon the request, the sales or service department provides verbal assistance or sends the customer literature regarding the requested information. The literature is typically mailed to the customer or, if a quick turnaround was required, the information is Faxed or delivered overnight to the customer.
With the creation and increased popularity of the Internet, many companies are providing sales and support information on-line via a web server. Customers may access the web server via the Internet using a browser to seek and obtain both sales and service information. Typically, the company sets up a website that includes an organizational structure to assist the customer in finding desired information. However, for many customers, the website provides a maze of information through which the customer cannot navigate without assistance. Thus, company website typically also provides the customer with the ability to send email questions to the company or request that a customer service representative calls the customer.
Even when a customer service representative calls the customer, however, difficulties still exist. For example, when the customer service representative directs the customer to an appropriate web page or other resource available on the web server, the resource may still be too complicated for the customer to understand by him or herself. In this situation, the customer is therefore left without adequate customer service and may forego further business with the company unless the customer receives a visit from a salesperson or customer support person.
Thus, there is a need in the art for a system that adequately services the needs of a prospective or existing customer, such system operating to benefit not only the customer but to minimize the cost of providing the customer service or sales support.
Thus, to overcome the shortcomings of the prior systems, among other shortcomings, a web based agent backed system constructed according to the present invention provides sales and service and sales support for a company. The system includes a call center computer coupled to the Internet (or another packet switched network) that receives a call request from a customer computer. The customer computer may have made the call request using a link contained in a company web page maintained on a web server. Upon receiving the call request, the call center computer determines customer information and call information. The call information indicates whether the customer computer is placing an Internet Protocol (IP) telephony call to an agent, requesting that an agent place an IP telephony call to the customer or requesting that an agent place a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) call to the customer.
In servicing the call request, the call center computer contacts an agent station computer and requests an agent. If the customer computer has placed an IP telephony call, the call center computer directs the agent station computer to complete the call to an appropriate agent. An agent in this context is not limited to a person, it could also be an automatic response system. If the customer computer has requested that an agent call, the call center computer forwards information to the agent station computer that is used to place the call and to connect an appropriate agent.
When the call center computer services the call request, it may direct media content to the customer based upon customer information collected either from the current session or prior session(s). The media content is intended to further the business interests of the company. Thus, the media content relates to the products and/or services of the company. Alternately, the media content may simply educate the customer regarding usage of the company""s products. Moreover, the media content may be paid advertising that has been selected based upon the customer information or information gathered during prior interaction with the customer.
The media content may include web page content, streamed multimedia content or other types of content that may be displayed/presented on the customer computer. In one operation, the call center computer interacts with software contained on the customer computer to cause the customer computer to request the media content. The media content may be requested and received from a web server, streaming multimedia server, or another computer coupled to the customer computer via a computer network.
Once the agent/customer call has been established, the agent may direct media content to the customer. In one operation, the agent may use the media content to assist in explaining use or service of a product. In another operation, the agent may direct the customer to another product that the agent considers commensurate to the customer""s needs. In directing the media content to the customer computer, with consent from the customer, the agent may enact operation of the customer computer via the agent station computer to retrieve a web page from the web server or a multimedia stream from the streaming multimedia server. Alternately, the agent may direct the web server or streaming multimedia server to direct the media content to the customer computer.
Moreover, other aspects of the present invention will become apparent with further reference to the drawings and specification, which follow.